Inter-exchange carriers (IXC) provide discounts on interLATA (Local Access and Transport Area) calls to their customers if they will aggregate their calls (network traffic) to a single point. To facilitate this service, inter-exchange carriers (IXC) offer to provide private facilities from each of the customer's locations to the single point of presence. FIG. 1 illustrates the situation. A customer having facility A 12, facility B 14 and facility C 16 has to aggregate all their interLATA calls. Facility A is coupled to a central office (CO) 18 that has a dedicated DS-1 line 20 to the IXC's POP 22. The central office 18 includes an alternate route selection system (ARS) 24. The ARS 24 can route interLATA calls to another IXC via another DS-1 or public office routes if, for instance, there is no capacity left on the DS-1 line 20. Facility B 14 and facility C 16 are coupled to CO 26. A second dedicated DS-1 line 28 connects the CO 26 to the POP 22. A second ARS 30 duplicating the function of the ARS 24 is required for the second CO 26. A duplicate ARS and another DS-1 line will be required for every CO used by a customer facility. Leasing DS-1 lines can be very expensive, especially if they are not used at capacity all the time. However, if the DS-1 lines are constantly being used at capacity, then a number of calls (network traffic) are having to be routed to a second route, public or another DS-1, that is more expensive.
Thus there exists a need for a method of aggregating calls (network traffic) that is flexible enough to handle peak loads without the customer having to pay for unused capacity and does not require duplication of systems, such as ARSs.